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Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Today was an historic occasion as Prime Minister Trudeau formally apologized in the House to Canadian Sikhs for the Komagata Maru "incident." Former Prime Minister Harper had apologized in 2008, however that apology occurred during an event in Surrey, BC, which was a disappointment to the Sikh community who wanted the apology made on the floor of the House of Commons. We should also note that Trudeau's apology on behalf of the Canadian government was supported by the Conservative Party, NDP, Bloc Quebecois, and Green Party.

Someone who wasn't pleased with the apology?

Of course it was Paulie!

Now Paulie wrote up a long-winded missive that we aren't about to publish in full that he intended to deliver in a speech at the press gallery at Parliament Hill.

We put emphasis on, "intended":

Controversial speaker denied access to Parliament for a second timeJust over an hour before Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was to rise in the House of Commons Wednesday and deliver an apology to Canada’s Sikh population for the 1914 Komagata Maru incident, Paul Fromm — anti-immigration activist previously banned from entering Parliament — was scheduled to hold a press conference opposing it.Though his press conference was ultimately cancelled and Fromm was denied access to the Parliamentary precinct late Wednesday morning, that only came after some eleventh hour scrambling.....Fromm was previously connected to Holocaust denier Ernst Zundel and has been criticized by human rights groups for his racist views.....The office of the speaker of the house of commons confirmed to iPolitics that, “further to a recommendation from the Deputy Sergeant at Arms, and based on past practice”, Fromm had been denied access to the precinct.That past practice referred to a motion brought by Conservative MP Jason Kenney in 2007, which ordered Paul Fromm and an individual named Alexan Kulbashian “be denied admittance to the precincts of the House of Commons during the present session to preserve the dignity and integrity of the House.”

Sunday, May 15, 2016

There are times when this writer is not only able to expose bigot to public scrutiny, but also indulge in a bit of historical geekery. Those are good days.

And this is one of those days.

When examining the Soldiers of Odin it is easy to focus exclusively on the rampant racism found amongst a number of individuals who are drawn to the group as well as the Islamophobia which is the Soldiers of Odin calling card. But it can be easy to miss the incredible hypocrisy of an organization ostensibly founded to protect "our" (read: white) women and children from the swarthy hordes at the gate:

Because sexual violence was NEVER a problem in Europe or Oz before Muslims arrived...

Then again, the misogynistic rhetoric of some members and supporters of the Soldiers of Odin sort of calls into question this claim:

Craig claims to be the Sergeant at Arms- Ontario East Division at Soldiers Of Odin Ontario

More on Arran Taylor later.

For an organization set up ostensibly to protect women, the Soldiers of Odin has a real image problem (again, that's besides the link to overt racists who are members of the SoO in good standing). That image problem begins with the name of the organization itself.

Sunday, May 08, 2016

Back in March we ran an article linking Canadians United 4 Canada to the Soldiers of Odin, a movement that started in Finland but which has spread to a number of other countries including Canada.

Among those Finnish members are this guy:

Mr. Johansson's friend list might be of interest to readers on this side of the Atlantic:

Our original article on the SoO focused specifically on the Quebec wing and noted the Quebec group consisted of a number of overt neo-Nazis. Not surprisingly SoO members and supporters denied being members of an overt hate group, going so far as to print leaflets promoting their non-bigoted bona fides:

Later, a journalist writing for VICE picked up on the story (while also kindly linking to our article on the SoO) resulting in some concern from at least one provincial SoO wing:

Btw, if Blake Cunliffe is concerned about how SoO might be portrayed in the media, he might decide to desist advocating political assassinations:

While we are no longer privy to the Soldiers of Odin's BC wing as they appear to have removed our dummy Facebook profile, we did notice that no one really ultimately challenged the underlying claims made in the article. Had they done so though, they might have had to explain this fella:

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A group of diverse but like-minded individuals, the members of ARC have come together in their common desire to fight hatred, bigotry, intolerance and violence because of the harm these antisocial behaviors cause to our society. In that effort, we will not use or sanction the use of illegal actions (such as violence or intimidation) in pursuit of our desired aims and if we learn of anyone who does use these unethical methods we will report those individuals to the authorities. Instead, we will use the guarantees found in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms that ensure freedom of legal speech and expression.

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